Days after the gruesome terrorist shootings that ended the lives of four Jews in Toulouse, the horror is still palpable. As they share the grief and pain of two storied families, French Jews are also asking some hard questions about the anti-Semitic threat lying just under the veneer of French society.

About 15 years ago, a Jewish entrepreneur from Charleston, South Carolina, took a young, local politician under his wing, and helped him get started in business. Little did the entrepreneur know that more than a decade later the politician would be elected to Congress and that his future son-in-law would serve as the congressman’s top advisor. Meet Rep. Tom Scott (R-SC) and Nick (Nosson) Muzin, who have formed an extraordinary alliance on Capitol Hill.

Like other kehillos, Bukharan Jews had their own distinct ways of making matzos. Six weeks before Pesach, Ari and Ari set off for Uzbekistan to find out if the age-old secret had survived almost a century of Soviet rule — and if, of course, it was still possible to have a taste.

From his youth, Rav Chaim Pinchas Scheinberg was considered something of a wonder – an American bochur who learned with the fire associated with the great yeshivos of Europe. That hasmadah would remain with him throughout his life, as well as something more: the ability to inspire an entire generation through both his personal example and his outstanding ahavas Yisrael. Although he was taken from us last week, the legacy he passed on and the life lessons he demonstrated will continue to reverberate.